


History Starts Now

by where_thewind_blows



Category: Doctor Who, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Doctor Who Fusion, Alternate Universe - Space, Character Death, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Happy Ending, Infinity Gems, Irondad, M/M, Pre-Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony is the doctor, but its before the main story, companion Peter, you figure it out pretty quickly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-05-23
Packaged: 2020-03-08 23:48:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18905137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/where_thewind_blows/pseuds/where_thewind_blows
Summary: “You like biology kid?” Tony said, pulling the steaming cup of coffee forward and savoring the smell. Seriously, he needed to get some of this for the TARDIS.-In order to save the universe six heroes needed to come together and wield the infinity stones. Tony Stark was not supposed to be one of those people, not supposed to be one of the ‘team’.  He was never supposed to wield a stone. That had never been in the plan.Yet, here he was----Or what came out of that time I was crying over a final paper grade and couldn’t decide if I wanted to read Doctor Who or Avengers fanfiction and instead came up with this weird Irondad fic where Tony is the Doctor, Peter is a companion, and the Avengers save the universe (again and again)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I literally have no idea what this is. Really, I have no business writing this when I still have a WIP... but I wanted Irondad and somehow this happened. 
> 
> Probably mostly due to the fact that after Endgame my soul left my body and this all the was left. 
> 
> No Beta. All mistakes are mine, i'm sure there are a lot cause its hard to edit your own things and i'm doing this while sleep deprived and hella stressed instead go writing my proposal

_BANG_  

“ _Fuck_ ”

The noise echoed throughout the ship and Tony finds himself falling over as the TARDIS. rocks unexpectedly. 

“Jarvis was the hell was that?”

“I believe it was a gunshot sir."

“Someone is firing at us??? At a police box? What the fuck!”

“Well sir, you did run in here after having blown up their lab” 

“Hey! That was necessary! They were selling that laced alien powder to the kids at the _middle_ school. I mean that it just another level of douchbaggery” 

_BANG_

“What they fuck are they shooting with? An elephant rifle?” Tripping his way down to the console Tony starting hitting buttons  

“I wasn’t condoning their actions, merely pointing out why they may have been shooting at you sir.”

Grumbling Tony turned and slammed the lever down and the TARDIS lights began flashing, the familiar klaxon sounded.

_BANG_

“Jesu _s_ ” Tony whined as the TARDIS flew through space. 

\----

Tony had previously been unaware one could simultaneously hate and love their live. But then again, if anyone could do it he supposed it made sense that it was him. The last of the great line of Starks.

Dear old dad always did say he would make great things. Tony somehow doubted that this was what Howard had meant, running around in a police box with a vibranium heart.

“Sir, do you require assistance?” Tony only had one theory as to how Jarvis was able to sound so human, and really, he was grasping at straws. Natasha wielding the soul stone while holding the TARDIS railings was a long shot but Tony had no other ideas how the A.I. could sound so sassy and so earnest at the same time.

“No Jarvis, I just happen to enjoy this piece of flooring”

“Of course, Sir.” There was a note in the A.I.’s voice that made Tony groan

“Just spit it out Jarvis, I just saved an entire generation from becoming alien addicted meth-heads, thereby saving those four students from starting an evil network to ruin the entire European continent, and I would rather not play guessing games today.”  

“A very fine job indeed Sir” Jarvis proclaimed, and Tony felt that annoying sting in his eyes at the familiar phrase. Damn, being alone was making him sappy. 

“Well what is it then?” He says, and is glad when Jarvis doesn’t make a comment as his voice cracks. 

“Captain Rogers called while you were out sir. I believe he wishes that you return the call.”

The groan Tony produces echos faintly between all the equipment of the TARDIS, this time more out of habitat than actual annoyance. 

“Did he say what he wanted Jarvis?” He already knew what it was, the Captain had this annoying idea that they should all stick together and be a team, even after they had already fixed everything, and was always checking up on Tony to remind him of this fact.

In order to save the universe six heroes needed to come together and wield the infinity stones. Tony was not supposed to be one of those people, not supposed to be one of the ‘team’.  All he had been there for was to form the vibranium, and use his own armor to take out as many enemies as could. He was never supposed to wield a stone. That had never been in the plan. 

And yet here he was, in the middle of the TARDIS, powered by a stone itself,  laying on the floor and debating whether or not it was worth it to call Captain stick-up-my-ass back when he knew that all he was going to say was “Stark, we are worried about you”

“He did not sir. I believe he is concerned about your health.”

Flipping over so he now lay on his stomach Tony grated a “motherfucker” into the floor before pushing himself to his feet.

Allowing himself to slouch into the seat at the console, honestly, he didn’t know how Strange had just stood up the whole time, Tony had back problems okay? He made the call. 

“Are we in the right time stream or whatever? Remember when we tried to call him last time?” 

“Yes sir, we are currently flowing through stream Alpha Zedd Zedd- four-two-eight-sev-“ 

“Great, give him a ring”

The sound of an old school phone began ringing throughout the TARDIS. Tony had thought about upgrading it, but it had reminded him too much of what it was like before he had been in charge of the damn ship and he was apparently becoming sentimental.

“ _Tony_ ”

The voice that came through the speakers was soft and seemed small in that large space, even if Tony knew that the man speaking was anything but.

“Hey Cap! What’s up, perfect timing by the way I just saved a bunch of kids from the path of evil.”

 “ _Are you alright?”_

Tony resisted the urge to groan again, because while annoying, it was a fair question. Last time Tony had even seen the Captain was when he had landed the TARDIS back at SHEILD and Jarvis has been the one to call the Avengers since Tony had been a little busy bleeding out to make the call.

“Right as rain Cap, you don’t need to worry so much” 

“ _What?_ ”  

“It’s an Earth phrase, means I’m fine. Really a-okay” Tony rolled his eyes. Rogers was out of the loop on nearly everything, Tony knew that Earth didn’t even have real space travel yet, but smugglers were constantly taking movies and shows from the planet. Since it was one of the few remaining that didn’t know about all the shit in the universe, they were still able to produce a damn good film.  “One day I’m going to make you sit down and take an info dump from Jarvis.”

“ _Whatever you say Tony_.”  his voice was soft and with that hint of mischief that Tony loved. When he wasn’t busy being a righteous ass, Rogers was actually a great guy to hang out with.

“Yeah, yeah whatever I say. Is that all you called about? Because as you know I have a very busy schedule and-“

“ _How can you be busy when you can basically make time? Can’t you just go somewhere and waste time for a bit?_ ”

Even though he couldn’t see, Tony waved his hand through the air

“It’s the principle of the thing Cap. You told me to watch over this sector, I’m doing my job. Busy as a bee, you know. Watching the time stream. I have Jarvis monitoring for any unusual activity that can link us to how they might be trying to get through. I think Earth is a good place to keep an eye on. It was right on the edge of the rift you know, and a lot of weird shit happened because of that. I think-“

 _“You know, I keep telling you to call me Steve, when are you going to start that?”_ Steve interrupted the rambling as well as he always did.

 _When I can stop thinking of screaming your name as the universe crumbles around us,_ Tony thinks, but aloud “Come on Cap you know you love you be addressed by your formal title.”

It was a low blow reference back when they all had to use codenames and Tony knew it. He was good at this though, pushing people away. He knew it wouldn’t work this time. Even if he could get the Captain to leave him alone, they were all permanently linked now.

A sigh came through the line, _“Wanda has been asking about you. When are you going to come visit?”_  

Oof, talk about low blows.

Tony had become close with the Maximoff kids, probably because like him they had just been along for the ride. Wanda and Pietro had been twisted experiments made by the last man to wield the power stone. It had backfired when they killed him in response. The power stone was lost for years after, until the Avengers came along.

There was hope for a while that Wanda and Pietro would be able to use the stones when they were found. But the twists to Wanda had made her unable to look at the power stone, and Pietro had been inches from the reality stone before turning and sacrificing himself so Clint could reach it instead.

After, Clint had told the team that his last words had been: “it wouldn’t have worked for me." 

Somehow, Wanda and Tony had gotten close. They had all been living at his house at the time, and perhaps it was because he too was suffering the greatest lose, but Wanda was probably one of the reasons he hasn’t just killed himself drinking. 

That, and even after her death Tony knew that Pepper would never forgive him if that’s how he died.

“I’ll come soon, tell her I just have some things to wrap up here first.”

“ _Just a day Tony. Rhodey and Bucky are coming back with me, and Bruce has been complaining that he has no one to do experiments with._ ” 

His heart clenched. He didn’t want to, but he missed them. 

“You know I have to do this. You know why. Just a little longer Cap. Just a little longer.”

“ _Tony”_  and Tony could hear the, ‘you always say that’ the, ‘you are going to hurt yourself’ the ‘you cannot do this on your own’ hidden in the name 

All of which might be true, but he didn’t care. There was silence for a while, the only sounds the soft clinks and air pressures breezes of the TARDIS. 

_“Alright Tony. Just please call if you need help? You know I wouldn’t mind coming along for a trip. You do always talk about how I need to learn more than just, what is it you call it? Military regalia?”_

He couldn’t help but snort at that, Steve was honestly ridiculous some days. It was tempting, truly it was, to bring him aboard the TARDIS for a while. It would be nice to have someone other than Jarvis, his bots and the silent ship to talk to. Not that he didn’t love talking to them, but another person? That would be nice.

 But Tony still saw the ghost of the last owner in every part of the ship, it was still to fresh, to confusing, and he didn’t want anyone to disrupt that. Even though he was sure said ghost would have kicked his ass if he knew what Tony was doing.

“One of these days Cap” Tony was always good at throwing in the false cheer and the proper attitude on the outside, “right now I’m just living bachelor life to its absolute fullest. You know those earthlings love to party. You would not _believe_ the kinds of places I’ve been too. Would shake up your poor little heart. Just seeing what goes on in the underbelly? It’s like Rantham 4 all over again at that little dive when we had to get that info from that lovely Miss Carmelia? Well the bars under New York are just-“

“ _Okay Tony okay”_ , and oh thank god Steve was chucking, _“I can tell I’m not getting you back this time. Just think about it okay? We miss you, Thor keeps saying he needs more training equipment, and Nat frets when you are away.”_

“That is a goddamn lie. The widow does even know what frets means.”

Steve laughed “ _Fine, she is just glaring at everyone like she is going to steal their toes when they aren’t looking and its rather unnerving._ ”

“That sounds about right” Tony felt the weight lifting and actually chuckled.

Natasha has always had a fire inside her. Tony had known her before the others and they were close. They had first met after his initial capture and he was just learning about vibranium and trying to fix his own heart at the same time. She had stuck by him even when some others hadn’t. Of course, she had been spying at him at the time, but that was beside the point.

It also helped that she had known him before the world went to shit. Besides Natasha, only Rhodey had really known Tony from Before. 

During that first battle, they had lost contact with Natasha early on. It had been chaos. They had been expecting the robots, the endless streams of robots, but it was the mutilated _things_ , not people, not animals, not truly alive, _creatures_ , with a face of teeth and four limbs, which had torn through them.

On one side Pietro had died and Clint reached the stone. On the other Bruce as the Hulk ripped the Mind stone from the forehead of Ultron right as his army overwhelmed them.

Natasha had never really spoken about what had happened. She been there to get T’Challa to the stone with the help of Shuri and Okoye, but it was Natasha who had burst from the temple, alone, and raised the stone and with Clint and Bruce flattening the armies to ash right at Stephen had arrived to whisk them away.

 “I know you worry about me Cap, but I’m fine I have Jarvis and the TARDIS hasn’t done me dirty since that time she landed me by the side of the volcano.”

 “ _Is it still giving you trouble? I know you said that after Stephen it_ -“

 “She.” Tony snapped, and instantly regretted it.

 There was an awkward pause, both men realizing that a boundary which had never been labeled had been crossed.

“ _Sorry I-“_ Steve’s voice could hold enough guilt to replace the stone wedged in his shield. Tony _hated_ when he sounded like that.

“It’s fine Steve, you know I didn’t mean- it’s just that since we had to restart her I don’t even know. Strange was better at getting her - you know… And I don’t think, I don’t even know.” Tony stopped shaking his head. Shit. He was doing the exact opposite of what he wanted and proving he was Not Fine which was _not_ something Cap needed to know about. “Never mind. Its’ fine, sorry I just – you know habit.” 

 _“Tony...”_ He could hear Steve sighing on the other end of the line. Could almost see him pulling himself together afterwards and shaking his head, _“It’s fine, I know.”_  

“Okay”

“ _Okay_ ”

 Tony hated the stifling silence that followed. The TARDIS was quiet. So, very quiet.

_"Please come visit us soon Tony. I promise I’ll make those flap-jacks you like, with the little sugared bits.”_

Damn it, how was this man simultaneously the most annoying and the most earnest.

“I promise Cap. I’ll come soon.”

_“And not just our soon. Your soon too.”_

“Yeah, yeah in know.” Tony rolled his eyes. And he thought he was bad at explaining the time travel stuff.

_“Okay Tony, take care of yourself? Okay?”_

“Don’t I always Cap?”

There was a soft chuckle at the other end and Tony grinned.

When the call ended, Tony was left twirling in his seat, he looked up at the curved ceilings with a sigh before closing his eyes. Talking to the others always brought back the endless stream of memories. The blood, ash, the lights, all swirling and tearing into his armor as people died around him and the battle seemingly never-ending noise warred in his head for sanity... 

“Are you alright, sir?” Jarvis asked, his voice soft and familiar, and Tony felt that pull to his heart again. 

“As rain Jarvis, as rain.” Opening his eyes Tony pulled his legs off the dash and grabbed a container of blueberries off the shelf. Popping one into his mouth he let his brain reset glancing over the blinking lights

“Where to next Buddy?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know a lot of confusing and unanswered information, it will all be explained (hopefully) soon
> 
> No Peter in this Chapter. I promise he is coming up really soon! That is if you want me to continue...


	2. Chapter 2

“Repeat that Jarvis?” Tony said, throwing on his jacket and checking the time period. Huh, that was odd, they hadn’t actually moved in time, just space. They were now sitting on a New York City sidewalk in 2019 on October the 3rd, only minutes after he had gotten off the phone with Steve on their personal star-dates.

“There are fluctuations that seem to indicate a time oscillation in New York City, similar in pattern to past occurrences.”

“Can you give me any more details than that J?”

“Sorry sir, that is all I am able to deduce. You know that I am limited in what I can extract for the Tardis’s database. Especially since I am unsure if she-“

“Yes, yes I know.” Tony patting his chest to check that the Arc Reactor was still working, running his fingers over his watch to see the nanobots ready as always.  Glancing around the room again just in case before he ventured outside the safely of the Tardis’ walls. They had become home to him over the past years, and the familiar noises and colors served him well. 

When he had first been inside the box it had been with Stephen and he had been pissed.

_“You get in a horrific accident. Go through massive surgery, leave the hospital AMA, with no word to ANYONE, go to some sketchy-ass-galaxy and the end of fuckoff nowhere, come back with magical fucking powers and I didn’t say shit, did I? Nooo I was all about it. You seemed happy, and shit our lives sucked enough growing up, you wanna create shiny glowing transportation frisbees with your hands? What the fuck ever, I don’t care. But now you want me to get into your fucking backwards ass box that you got from some dude you don’t even know after he DIED right in front of you to go save some frozen guy so you can… what? Go on a quest to save the universe? Am I getting that all right because it’s been a long week Stephen and I’m not sure if you have noticed, but Pepper and Rhodey have already told me that you need more medical help than this, and I’m starting to think you really fucking do.”_

Having grown up together on the same planet and with families running in the same social circles Stephen and Tony’s friendship had lasted through a lot. When Stephen had suffered his injury, Tony had tried to be there, but the man had vanished before Tony could even bring the tech to help his hands. When Stephen returned a year later ranting about some war that was going to happen and holding a green Time stone he claimed he had gotten from the last of the Time Lords, Tony had been concerned. Pepper and Rhodey had been convinced that man had gone insane and when he had began to tell Tony that he needed to get the rest Infinity Stones because he had seen the end of the world, he had begun to agree. 

Tony hadn’t wanted to believe him, had tried to force him to seek help. Hadn’t really believed him till he stood on the ruins of his home, his whole world at the bottom of a cliff and the Tardis had landed behind him. Stephen had been kind enough not to say “I told you”, but Tony could still see the words dancing in his resigned eyes.

The Tardis looked a lot different than it had back then. When Stephen got it from the previous owner it had a gilded inside, long poles connecting to the ceiling like coral, every line grown together, the whole place bathed in gold.  

After Stephen was gone and the war was over, Tony had repaired the TARDIS with the help of a heavy whack from Thor and the Space stone. It was now silver inside, was accents of green that Tony didn’t remember choosing. He had struggled for a long time with the idea of putting Jarvis inside, but in the end,  there was just not the same life as when Stephen had been there and he had caved. 

“Alright buddy you know the drill.” Skipping towards the door Tony pulled on his sunglasses as Jarvis’s voice followed him out 

“Of course, Sir.”

Tony had been to New York quite a few times since he had taken to watching this quadrant of the galaxy. It seemed to be the place for trouble in all timelines, and honestly? He kind of loved it. The bustle, the people, the noise, it reminded him of his home city on his own planet. 

Jarvis was feeding him information through the glasses, but Tony was happy to just stroll the streets for a moment, distracted by the scent had come to recognize as coffee. Smiling he made his way into the small shop.

Three minutes later he was back in the street, paper cup of joy in his hands, following the strange patterns Jarvis was bring up through and lenses and - 

“Oof – _fuck_!”

The small body that plowed into him hit the ground harder than expected and Tony stumbled back a step or two, coffee tumbling to the pavement. 

“Oh my god! Shit! - damn it. No, _fuck_. I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to hit you. I was just in a rush and I have this thing there, the sun just is fucking _blinding_ \- Sorry! I’m trying to watch my language! My aunt would kill me. Are you okay though? Did I break anything?! I can pay for it I just don’t know-“

The kid was talking so fast that Tony had to take a second or two to catch his bearing, which was saying something since he was usually the one being called out for long-winded speeches. 

“-I’ve been taking photos for the paper, but they don’t always pay right away and I can always just go back with more – I just need to update the camera, which means I need to find that new lens and I haven’t gone to 23rd yet and I know that-“

The kid was skinny with a mop of brown hair that was curling slightly. Wearing a shirt that read “I think I’m _Neuron_ to something” and faded jeans. Huge eyes were looking at Tony like whatever he said next was going make his day or utterly destroy him. He was picking up the fallen coffee cup and trying to put the lid back on and wiping down the sides with the bottom of his shirt as his ragged backpack slipped off a narrow shoulder.

“-I don’t think that I can save this, where did you get it? Maybe if I can just talk to them, or I have a friend who works at a Starbucks a couple blocks away and I can run, where are you going? I can just bring it to you there? I don’t really need to be anywhere so it’s not that big of a deal! I have a metro card so really no problem and I can run if you have a meeting, honestly if all fine! Unless you want something else? I can grab that too it just make take a minute because like I said its all-“

 “Whoa kid slow down” Tony, finally getting a grip on the situation, grasped the boy’s shoulders. The kid started, wide-eyed up at him. “Can you try that again, but a lot slower, and maybe with half- no, a fourth of the words?” He ended with a grin, hoping that the kid didn’t think he was angry, the coffee had barley splashed him, ending up mostly on the sidewalk and the kid’s shoes.

Taking a breath, the kid swallowed before saying “I’m so sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going, this is always happening to me.” 

Tony smiled at the sincerity, the dark eyes looking at him with such remorse one would think that the kid has just decked him instead of simply running into him.

“No worries kid.” Tony smiled, pulling off his sunglasses for a moment and shaking some of the now cooling coffee from his fingers.

“I can pay you back, I just need to bring these photos to the office, and then I can. Or I can just bring you another? Whatever you want sir, really I’m so sorry.” This kid was adorably concerned and Tony was about to wave him off before he noticed something else.

The kid was shivering. 

It wasn’t that noticeable if you were not staring right at him, but Tony could see the faint trembles, and when he looked closer he saw the goosebumps (a very human attribute) running up the boys’ sleeveless arms.

Blinking Tony stared back at the kid, picking up on somethings that he hadn’t with the first glance.

His hair was just _that_ bit too long, the backpack was a little too well used, letters beyond faded, unable to be read and several holes in the strap showed over the boys shoulder. His shoes, now covered in the cooling liquid, were well past the expiration date, laces broken and rubber pulling away from the fabric. Tony’s watch was blinking at him, Jarvis trying to keep him on track, but he just couldn’t help it, there was something weird about the kid, besides the old clothes, that he just wasn’t able to put a finger on…

He must have been starting a little too long, because the nervous rambling was back, the kid trying to apologies again

“Really,” Tony repeated “it’s not a big deal kid. In fact that cup was a little too light for my tastes anyway. I’ll just grab another, you want anything? You look kind of cold.”

The kid blinked, clearly that was not what he had been expecting, and he opened his mouth to say something, but this time Tony cut him off

“My treat, no one your age should be in this much of a rush on a-“ quick glance at his watch “Saturday morning. Plus, I must hear where you got that shirt, it is fantastic. My friend Bruce would love it.” Before the kid could do anything, Tony started to steer the kid back into the coffee shop. “What do you want? Did you have breakfast? Coffee? You know what never mind, you talk to fast to need more caffeine, that stuff kills most species you know. We shall try the chocolate.”

The kid was now silent, starting at him like he was some sort of miracle man, confusion fighting across his face. “It’s really fine sir. I don’t need anything, I did have breakfast. I just-“ 

“Nope, not listening. You’re not allergic to anything right?” He already knew after another quick glance at the watch, knowing Jarvis was paying attention and had already scanned the boy. “Awesome,” when the boy shook his head, turning to the barista “another coffee please. Black, lots of sugar, and a chocolate for the kid.”

“You want that with whole milk, or skim” The lady asked, glancing at the teen. 

Eyes running between Tony and the woman he stuttered out “uh…whole, please.” 

“Coming right up.” She said with a smile, and Tony swiped his card (Jarvis would make sure the right tender was added to the account) before walking to the end of the bar, found a table plopping himself down in a chair.

The boy followed, sitting across from him, the startled look now waring with gratitude.

“You okay there?” Tony asked peering at the kid as they sat.

“What? Oh yes. Thank you. You really didn’t have to. I should be paying you back, and I don’t need-“

“No problem, take it from one science nerd to another”

Tony had learned early on that that customs of Earth were very different than back on his own home planet. There was a lot more worry about ‘stranger danger’ or weirdness about talking to someone you just met, not that they let Tony stop him.  Humans where curious by nature and he had realized that this presence seemed to have a particularly calming effect, that or maybe they were always just happy when he saved them from certain death.

 “Tony Stark, what’s your name kid?”

“Peter,  Peter Parker sir. I –“ Whatever Peter had been about to say was cut off as the barista brought their drinks to the table, steam curling over the tops of the mugs. She smiled at Peter and place a tray with some small cookies next to the boy’s drink. With a stuttered thank you the boy blushed. Tony started amused at the kid’s behavior.

Peter looked up from the food and the drink, for the first time seeming to have no words to add, looking for all the world like a lost little Albruibian deer. 

“You like biology kid?” Tony said, gesturing to the boy’s shirt and pulling the steaming cup of coffee forward and savoring the smell. Seriously, he needed to get some of this for the T.A.R.D.I.S.

Peter’s face lit right up, nervousness replaced with an eagerness that made Tony’s heart twinge. “Yes! Well I like chemistry more, but Midtown has a great bio department and we are working with DNA right now. It’s fascinating, we are currently trying to figure out the differences between two types of Rabbits which are both found in New York, but look exactly the same and- “

“Really? How are you looking at the DNA?” Tony said, fingers running across the porcelain of the cup, watching as the kid took a carful sip of the hot chocolate, his eyes going wide with pleasure, “ I’m a tech junkie myself, worked for a long time on trying to find a way to re-run computer code to act more like DNA”

The kid’s bright eyes went huge “Really? That’s _so_ cool! Where did you do that?”

“MIT” Tony said using his coffee mug to cover the glance to the watch as Jarvis fed him a plausible school. Damn did he love his A.I.

“Really, wow! I’ve always wanted to go there! Did you know that they have a tunnel underneath? I was hoping when I visit I can –“

The next hour was maybe one of the best Tony had in a long time. The kid had clearly been a bit startled to have a stranger so blatantly talk to him, and Tony had to occasionally have Jarvis feed him plausible info, but the kid was _smart_. Smarter than a lot of people Tony knew, and he found himself pulling out a pen and drawing on napkins designs before he even thought about it. He hadn’t done something like this in a long, long time.

When he looked up and realized that both cups had been cleared away and the cookies were nothing but crumbs, he was shocked to admit that he had actually been having fun. 

“Damn kid, I haven’t thought that hard in a while. This is brilliant.” Tony looked over the napkins, equations scattered across.

“Thanks, so much Mr. Stark.” The boy gushed “I can’t believe you went to MIT! I was just talking to my friend Ned about-“

Tony could have listened to the rambling all day but a  soft dinging interrupted the kid as Jarvis finally got fed up and brought Tony’s attention back to the watch. It was glowing orange. Shit. Tony stood quickly, 

“Yeah kid, no problem. You are going to do great there one day.” He pulled on his sunglasses, a red alert was beeping in the top left corner, and an arrow was leading him out of the shop.

“Make sure you bring those notes with you when you head to the school.” He pushed the door open. Not noticing as Peter scrambled to follow. What was going on? The arrows where leading to some kind of ripple…  “I’ll catch you later kid” He muttered turning and quickly jogging around the corner to the alley. What the hell was happening? Tony began turning into a slow circle

“Mr. Stark! Wait! Do you think I could-“ Peter was holding the backpack in one had tripping over his own feet as he turned into the alley - 

_Shit._

“Kid _MOVE_!” Tony screamed launching himself towards the teen.

The crack of the air was startling in that small space as something unseen exploded.

Orange puss flew everywhere, coating the brick walls of the alley, falling in large clumps onto trash cans, debris and broken street lights. Small cracks and plops where heard all around as the goo dripped and scattered, covering every available surface in slime.

Tony had reached Peter just as it happened and they fell to the earth, Tony on top of the boy his whole back being covered with the stuff as Peter slammed into the ground under him, the boy making a sound of shock and pain as he fell.  

Orange covered his glasses, and for a second Tony wasn’t in an alley on Earth, but on another planet, red and orange dust coating everything, hanging in the hair like a vengeful spirit. His hands were not gripping Peters but Stephens as he screamed, his voiced wrecked with the words 

_“Cap! Where the hell are you! Steve! STEVE!”_

_Tony had never screamed like this in his life. Not when they had been attacked on Nowhere, not when Rhodey had been struck and fallen, not even when his house had been collapsing, the love of his life trapped inside. There was something guttural, primal about his voice now. He was not screaming for himself, for his friends, but for the whole universe. This man’s death would surely be the end, everything that Tony was fighting for pointless with this mortality._

_“It’s okay, it’s okay Tony. This is what it has to be.” Stephen coughed, blood running across his chin “I’m going to give you time. You all just need to do it, to end it. I need to do this so it cannot go back. Five minutes.”_

_“No. No.” wrecked and raw “We do this together remember. Remember. You said it yourself. A team. You said it was going to be done as a team.”_

_Stephen smiled, bloody cracked teeth showing through, a macabre vision that swam before Tony’s face, the ash and dust making it seem like hell had come from below to swallow them right here. “I know. I just never said I was going to be on that team.”_

_And then Tony was screaming even louder as Stephen pulled his hands back, opening the locket with the time stone and turning it before anyone else could move. Green light screeched around them and it was glowing more colors than Tony could comprehend and time was moving so fast, and not moving at all- and his body was being ripped apart atom by atom, the world shaking and-_

_It stopped. The time stone was blinking in his hand. Stephen unmoving at his feet. The dust still swirling and the echoes of the battle still surrounding him as he knelt in the blood_

_They had five minutes it end it._

“Mr. Stark, holy shit what was that”  Tony snapped back to the present. Earth. New York. 2019.

He didn’t have time to have a flack-back panic attack right now. Jarvis was calling him from the watch, there was orange all over his face, the kid was looking up at him with huge confused and terrified eyes.

 Sitting up and pulling the glasses off and Tony spit into the dirt. “Ew.” He complained glaring at the orange goop covering the arms of the jacket. He didn’t have time. He never really had the time. 

Peter was on the ground beside him, body splayed out, his elbows on the ground as he raised his head to stare at Tony, utter bewilderment mauring every feature.

Tony couldn’t help but grin at that, the nightmares fading back to the part of his memory that was best left untouched.

“Remember how you said you liked biology kid?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meet one Peter Parker. Adorable hot mess 
> 
> Please let me know what you think! I know its not the best writing but i'm mostly just trying to get all the ideas bouncing around my head out


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